I woke up pumped! I stole a shower from the designated drive up campsite showers. Sneaky me. I showed Ranger and G.C. where to find them.
We ran and got breakfast then headed to the event.
When I broke camp I ended up leaving all my stuff under my rain fly and tucked it under my gear so it wouldn’t blow away if it got breezy. I went to the Nemo section and gave them my tent. They gave me a claim ticket and told me to check back in a few hours.
My favorite event of the day was a leather working station. They had leather bands with holes and dies to press into the bands. I made a leather bracelet with my trail name and a few other things, like a tent and musical notes on it.
I made some name tags and got more stickers. Mostly Ranger and I just hung out.
It was a really fun day.
I got my tent back, which was a huge relief.
The repair was super solid and I went back to set it up and set my camp back up.
Just more wandering. I met a cool woman, Hummingbird, or Lisa, who works on a conservation board.
A lot of people asked me where I got my name tag. I pointed them to the NPS setup. Partially because that’s where I got it, and also because NPS needs all the support they can get. Gregory also had a really cool name tag booth.
Sawyer had a super fun display with the best stickers.
“Treat your stuff.”
“I’d treat that.”
“Giardia ain’t it.”
I met the social director of Sawyer, Oats, who I’d heard on Backpacker Radio and was a fan of. She was an absolute delight. We talked a little bit.
I met some reps for CNOC. They weren’t able to help me replace the broken part of my water bottle I got from them.
Enlightened Equipment had a display and a raffle (I didn’t win).
I met Darwin, who was there showing his new gear company. He had a conversation with Dan Becker before I got to meet him. I never could get into Dan Becker.
There was so much. And it didn’t run late because we needed time clear out in the morning and all get back on trail.
It was a really wonderful day.